Today is a special day! Our Sarah is 16! 16 is a big year for girls, especially! All my kids have looked forward to getting their permit, (shudder, shudder!), but Sarah has really looked forward to this birthday!
Sarah mentioned months ago that she wanted to have a party. She's been disappointed that all of her close friends have chosen to turn 16 without any "fanfare"! I wanted to do SOMETHING to surprise her....but I really agonized over what! I was working on a very limited budget!
April sped by so fast that I had to hurry and plan something! Sarah's friend, Francesca, was my liaison to the girls I was inviting from her class. I decided on a sleepover from Friday into Saturday...and then on Saturday I took the girls to Newport for high tea and shopping.
I wasn't sure I could keep it a secret....but somehow it worked out! At one point, Sarah even asked me if she could plan a sleepover birthday party....which was perfect because it kept her focus on planning and I got some inside details of ideas she had without fear of making her suspicious!
It all went smoothly and Sarah had so much fun with her friends! The goal was to make her feel as special as she is to us....and I think we succeeded!
Here are a bunch of pics!
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| Table set for the special occasion! I was going for a sophisticated princess look! |
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Jay's mom made the beautiful centerpieces. Lanterns were $1 each from The Christmas Tree shop!
I got some fun, fancy "looks like glass" plastic cups with a matching pitcher with a gift card I had to Marshall's. |
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| coming into the surprise |
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| happy and surprised |
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| Sarah with Grandma |
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| Peter is very excited, too!(mostly for cake!) |
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| Jay's mom made the beautiful cakes and cupcakes, too! |
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| Singing Happy Birthday! |
After Friday night fun, Saturday am started with pancakes, bacon, and fruit....and then getting all dressed up for our adventure!
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| Ready to go! |
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| Playing dress-up in a vintage consignment shop while we waited for our reservation! |
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| just for fun! |
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| All the girls got to pick their own tea cup from the owner's collection! |
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The girls were so excited and chatty! They had fun doing something "fancy".
They are such a good group of girls...all very positive and happy!
They even all prayed grace on their own before they ate!
I'm so grateful for good friends for Sarah!
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| Walking around Newport...the tulips were amazing! |
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| fun pics..."wafting" |
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| Strike a pose! |
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| The Birthday Girl! |
Sarah filled our empty arms and brought so much healing to our family when she was born 16 years ago today! She was always a laid back, happy baby! I don't think we ever brought her to the "cry room" in church because she was always content to sit on Daddy's lap and snuggle!(and,yes, all of our girls have him wrapped around their fingers...no matter what he says!) Sarah is spiritual, smart, driven, creative and such a joy to be around! She is best known around here for her chocolate chip cookies, singing princess songs with her sisters, and enduring our teasing for her nerd side and her love of all things math, physics (which she is teaching herself for fun), and her brain book(which she reads for fun)! We can't imagine life without her!
Happy 16th Birthday, Sarah!
